Fear Itself
by DawnrunnerMoon
Summary: Zoro couldn't breathe. He stared at the limp form lying at his feet. Zolu one-shot.


**This is my first fanfic, so please review!**

Zoro couldn't breathe. He stared at the limp form lying at his feet. Someone was yelling something at him, but he couldn't understand them because his brain was trying to process the scene before him, and his lungs were struggling for air, and he was waiting for his heart to beat again.

"Zoro," came a distant, faraway voice. "Zoro, help me," Nami said. She was close to tears.

Zoro shuddered and tried to focus on what needed to be done. He knelt down and helped Nami lift Luffy off the ground. Blood soaked Zoro's side as he held his captain. So much blood, it can't all be his, can it?

Zoro and Nami carried Luffy over to where Chopper had set up an emergency operation table. They laid him down as carefully as they could. Zoro held Luffy's head in hid hands. Something was missing. The hat. Zoro was tempted to rush off to find his captain's most prized treasure, but he couldn't leave Luffy's side.

There were tears in Chopper's eyes, and he looked to Zoro for comfort, but he could give none. So Chopper choked back a sob and set to work.

Zoro tried to swallow, but he couldn't. It was only then that Zoro realized he was trying to swallow fear. Zoro had never been afraid in his life. Not when Hawkeyes Mihawk had nearly sliced him in half, not when he was facing Das Bones, not even when the Straw Hat Crew came up against Enel, and his terrifying ability to control lightning. But now . . . Zoro could feel it coursing through his veins.

He was afraid. He was afraid of a world without Luffy, a world without his wonderfully idiotic captain with an appetite that could never be fulfilled. A world without somebody who constantly got into trouble every possible waking moment. A world without somebody who made Zoro laugh so hard he felt like his insides would burst. This was not a world Zoro wanted to live in.

Zoro crouched down and put his mouth next to Luffy's ear. "I need you," he whispered. "Don't leave me."

Zoro closed his eyes and imagined Luffy. Everything about him screamed alive. He always had that insane light in his eyes. Zoro could picture him now, perched on the figurehead of the Going Merry, the sea breeze ruffling his thick black hair, yelling, "I see it! An island! An island!"

And besides, Luffy couldn't die now. He needed to complete his dream. He needed to become the Pirate King. Zoro had his own dream, of course, to become the greatest swordsman in the world. But his dream had altered its course slightly. Now, Luffy was the very first and last thing Zoro thought about everyday.

"Zoro," Chopper said tentatively. The swordsman snapped back to reality.

"I think I need you to leave."

Pain stabbed Zoro's heart, but if Chopper hadn't meant it, he wouldn't have said it. Zoro nodded and slowly walked away, looking over his shoulder as he did.

* * *

Sanji found him later when he was just trying to be alone.

"Oi, marimo," he said. Zoro shut his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk to the cook, and he was too angry and upset to fight.

"What do you want Sanji?"

Sanji lit a cigarette. "You know he's going to be fine. He's Luffy."

"What's that supposed to mean, that he can survive anything?"

Sanji shrugged.

"Because he may be Luffy, but he's not immortal."

Sanji took out his cigarette, and blew a puff of smoke into the air. "I'm just trying to tell you to stop worrying."

"I think- "Guys!" Chopper cried.

Zoro jumped to attention his heart beating faster than it ever had before.

"He's awake."

* * *

Zoro stood, soaking in the sight of Luffy's open eyes, and his kooky smile.

"Did I have you worried Zoro?"

Zoro leaned forward so he was closer to Luffy. "Have you ever been afraid, Luffy?"

Luffy laughed. "No. Fear's unnecessary. I doubt you've ever felt it."

Zoro took a deep breath. "You never understand fear until someone you love is in mortal peril." Zoro waited for this to sink in. "You scared me Luffy. For the first time in my life, you scared me."

Zoro leaned in and kissed his captain gently on the head. "Never scare me again."

**I hope you liked it, and no . . . I don't own the characters.**


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